SBC meeting smartphone app launches

NEW ORLEANS—For the first time, messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting this year can stay up to date with an SBC Annual Meeting smartphone app, which will include more than a dozen features, including maps, alerts, the Book of Reports and the Daily Bulletin.

The free app is available for iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry users and can be downloaded by visiting m.core-apps.com/sbc2012am from a smartphone or by typing in “SBC Annual Meeting 2012” in the smartphone’s app store.

Developed by Core-Apps, the app will include:

• push alerts that give users up-to-date news, such as changes in the meeting schedule.
• a list of exhibitors, including contact information for each exhibitor and the exhibitor’s floor location.
• an interactive map of the exhibit hall.
• the programs for the SBC Pastors’ Conference and the annual meeting.
• an alphabetized list of Pastors’ Conference and annual meeting speakers, including their scheduled speaking time.
• PDF versions of the Book of Reports and the Daily Bulletin.
• a Twitter stream of discussion about the annual meeting.
• a news feed of Baptist Press annual meeting news stories.
• a list of churches in the New Orleans Baptist Association, with a map showing where each congregation is located.
• a “friends” icon where users can keep up to date with their friends and send them notes. (Users are required to fill out a brief profile.)

The app already can be downloaded but is still being updated, and features will be added in the coming weeks.